2019 Experiments

My 2019 Self Growth Experiments

This is the place where I document the journey of my self growth and share what I learn through these experiments with you so that you can also try some of these. I’ll also be announcing public experiments from time to time where You and I can participate together.

Why These Experiments?

All of my growth has come from trying new things in life.

Ideas can be useful and motivate us, but without trying out these ideas we won’t know if they work. Even if ideas are time-tested without applying them in our lives we won’t see any improvements. That’s why these experiments.

Sharing the results forces me to take the experience seriously. And, by sharing my observations, I hope that you’ll able to try these ideas and experiments yourself.

Mostly, I share the results of the experiments after completing them. But from time to time, I’ll announce public experiments and invite you to join to try a new experiment with me.

I would love to hear about your current or past experiments where you have tried implementing a new idea in your life.

Upcoming

Maker’s Challenge

(Coming later in 2019)

Completed﻿

Eat Raw and Fresh Experiment [Sep 2019]

What? I was down with fever and did not want to each anything, and used this opportunity to increase the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Result. I was able to follow what I decided to do for about 2 weeks out of 20 or so day that I gave to this experiment. The best part about the experiment was that it made me mindful of what I was eating and now I consume more vegetables and fruits than usual.

See the update post (with learnings and results) that I wrote after completing it.

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Limit Passive Entertainment Experiment [Aug 2019]

What? I was wasting too much time (20-30 hours a week) in binge-watching online shows (Netflix) and videos (YouTube). This was taking a toll on my productivity and sleep. I wanted to change it and that’s why I did the experiment.

Result. I was only able to follow it for 8 days in the month. I hoped to do better but that’s what I could manage.

The result wasn’t as expected but I became mindful about how I was spending time online and was able to reduce my online entertainment time. Towards the end of the month, I also replaced some of the time that I saved with another interesting activity.

See the update post (with learnings and results) that I wrote after completing it.

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The Reading Habit Experiment [July 2019]

What? I was reading online essays and watching videos but not reading books that I bought. I wanted to change this without disrupting the rest of my routine.

Result. I was only able to follow it for 12 days in the month and finished reading 120 pages from the book I chose to read.

See the update post with learnings and results) that I wrote after completing it.

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The Diet Clean Up ‘No Milk, No Sugar’ Challenge [May 2019]

What? I was having too much coffee (up to 8 cups a day). Because I was overdosing so all the milk and sugar in my coffee was making me feel sluggish. I wanted to change it and that’s I did.

I aimed to follow in on weekdays and did that 100% after starting on May 6th.

I felt lighter and reduced the amount of junk as a side effect.

See the update post (with learnings and results) that I wrote after completing it.

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The No Food After 8 PM Challenge [April 2019]

I started experimenting with this in late 2018 and then decided to do a public experiment by logging how was faring every day.

What? I believe that we eat too much. That’s why I decided to stop eating at 8 pm every day. This was to ensure that I was not eating too much and also to make sure that I was not interfering with the body’s natural repair process that happens at night.

I aimed to do it 21 days out of 30 days in April. I only managed to follow it on 14 days.

I did not follow it religiously during May because I was out most nights till late and did not log my food timings but from what I remember I followed it for 10 days of 31 days in May.

See the update post (with learnings and results) that I wrote after completing it.

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The Outreach Challenge [March 2019]

I did it during March 2019 and didn’t continue in April or May.

What? I believe that business and personal growth comes by connecting with the community. That’s why in March I decided to reach out to 21 past and new business partners to explore the possibility of doing business again. I am not a natural at cold outreach but a lot of good has come to me through cold outreach. So I decided to give it a shot again.

Show Up On Social Media Challenge [Feb 2019] – Updated post with April results linked below

Ongoing. I started it during February 2019 but kept on with it through March and April also. Didn’t do it in May because I was locked out of my Facebook page, and that was what I used as a primary outlet for my posts.

What? I believe that business can use social media, especially paid media to grow. Personally, I have never been a big user. I decided to change that by doing it myself by posting once a day.